This one is for all those moments when you suddenly find yourself raising a glass and in need of a few words. Cheers to you!

Every body’s Toast Book, and Convivial Companion. Philadelphia: Fisher & Brother, [1851]

The Liberty Bell was issued in 15 editions between 1839 and 1858. This one, from 1848, is bound in white and red striped patterned book cloth, which was popular at the time. Compiled by the Friends of Freedom and issued for the Anti-Slavery Bazaar, it is one of the few gift books published in support of the abolitionist cause.

This time of year is gift-giving season, and around here that means gift books!

Literary annuals embellished with lots of illustrations and done up in fancy bindings, gift books were all the rage between the 1820s-1850s. They were typically published towards the end of the year, just in time for the holidays.

This edition of the Token for 1830 is bound in purple moiré silk, and the title simply and elegantly stamped in gold on the spine.

The Token. (Boston, [1829])

Foliage report from the stacks: 100% *heart eyes*

T.F. Thiselton Dyer. The Folk-lore of plants (London, 1889)

What a stunner! Absolutely loving this gilt cover decoration.

The design is signed “S. C.” in the lower curves - any ideas on who this is?

Joseph Shaylor. The pleasures of literature and the solace of books. New York, 1898.

Talk about spine tingling! It’s a very Halloweeny #publishersBindingThursday this week!

These skeletons are from Henry Smith’s Anatomical Atlas, (Philadelphia, 1847)

This edition of Ocean Flowers shines for its lush green velvet and gold-stamped covers, but wait! There’s more!

Between those covers are dried seaweed specimens; verses by Byron, Edgeworth, and Wordsworth; and a ticket noting this volume was sold for $8 at the National Anti-slavery Bazaar at Faneuil Hall.

[Mary Howard], Ocean Flowers and their Teachings (Bath, 1846)

Ms. Peacock, in the Conservatory, with the…snake?

This fantastic publishers binding is from Mysteries of Crime (Boston, 1870).

Have we mentioned we love fall? Well, we do. We also love these squishy soft padded bindings from the late 19th century, so this Longfellow edition is a real win-win.

Poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. With biographical sketch by Nathan Haskell Dole. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1901.]

A recent addition to our ever-growing collection of 19th century American gift books is this 1829 edition of “El Aquinaldo,” the first Spanish language gift book printed in the U.S.

It’s publication signaled a change in Spanish language printing in the U.S. from primarily textbooks and political tracts to luxury and literary works, reflecting the growing market of Hispanic elite in Philadelphia.

El Aguinaldo. Filadelfia: Carey, Lea, & Carey, 1829.